The Strata Titles Act 1966 (WA) was enacted in response to the growing demand in Western Australia for occupation of individual units in the one building on an ownership basis and the generally unsatisfactory methods of dealing with that demand. The Act was modelled on the Conveyancing (Strata Titles) Act 1961 (NSW). In 1973 New South Wales enacted new legislation to address perceived problems with the previous regime. In light of this complete revision of the model legislation and the increased popularity of ownership of strata title units, the Commission was asked to perform a full review of the Western Australian legislation.
Terms of Reference
In 1974 the Strata Titles Act 1966–1978 (WA) was referred to the Commission for general review.
Outcomes
In 1985 Parliament passed the Strata Titles Act 1985 (WA) and the Acts Amendment Act (Strata Titles) 1985 (WA). Most of the Commission’s principal recommendations were implemented by the new Acts. However, in the absence of the establishment of separate divisions of the Local Court, the dispute resolution process that the Commission recommended was altered to allow that appeal lies from a decision of the Strata Titles Referee directly to the District Court. Further, the Commission’s recommendation to Parliament that detailed consideration be given to the issues of cluster titles and staged development has not been realised.
In 1995 a Strata Titles Taskforce was established by government to address problems perceived in respect of insurance of strata title units. The recommendations of this taskforce led to the enactment of the Acts Amendment Act (Strata Titles) 1996 (WA) which addressed those issues and made minor administrative adjustments to the legislation but did not enact the Commission’s outstanding recommendations.
